Agartala, July 31: The Tripura Sundari Express today chugged out of Agartala railway station, headed for Delhi - 52 years after the first railway line was laid in the state.

Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the train at 2.35 this afternoon with an 18,000-strong crowd in attendance.

Binod Behari Das, 72, a resident of Sonamura, had come to a relative's house here to witness the commencement of the first broad-gauge train. "I travelled 60km to witness this. I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. I am overjoyed."

Laxmipati Debbarma, 55, came on a bus from Jampui Jala, 25km southeast of Agartala. "I had seen the first metre-gauge train roll into Agartala in October 2008. I am here again today. Tripura is moving ahead fast," said an elated Debbarma.

In 1964, Dharmangar in North Tripura got the first metre-gauge railway line and it was extended till Kumarghat in 2004.

The train will pass through 17 stations to reach Anand Vihar railway station in Delhi, traversing nearly 2,400km in 47 hours. The cost of a sleeper class ticket is Rs 985, while the tickets for AC three-tier and AC two-tier will cost Rs 2,480 and Rs 3,565 respectively.

Prabhu promised an investment of Rs 7,000 crore to improve railway infrastructure in the Northeast.